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Great pics blues, great story too. you really should do a cross-country jaunt and check out the skyline dr/parkway sometime. Not to mention a certain reptillian bit of road a touch further south....


Oh..and does anyone else start thinkin Goonies when lookin at blues nw coast pics?

Hi Blues, Hi Doc

blues2cruise wrote:THE OREGON COAST

The scenery along this route is stunning, awesome, magnificant, inspiring, spectacular...whatever adjective you could come up with could not describe the ever changing beauty to be seen and experienced.

I'm taking notes, Blues. Taking notes...

Scenery like that just reels you in, doesn't it?

Parts of it reminded me a lot of the South Devon and Cornish Coasts here in the UK

blues2cruise wrote:Dr_bar and I had planned to make certain destinations by a certain time, but it never did come together. Although the mileage may not seem difficult to achieve, the constant stops to admire the scenery and chat to people took up a lot of time.

Best way. Make plans and then abandon them. Unshackle the chains. Unloose yourself into the landscape. Just go. Just rest. And exercise those human faculties of awe and wonderment. That's the kind of reality the Old Brain truly understands.

Sigh!

Have happy days.

DAY 3 and 4

After we got to Lincoln City and found such a nice hotel, we decided to stay an extra day.
So day 4 was spent travelling from Lincoln City to Bandon. Before we left Lincoln City, though, we backtracked to take a photo of ourselves at the 45th paralles sign.....halfway to the equator.

We made quite a few stops along the way to see some history and view some whales.
Yes, whales ! We stopped in Newport to see the ocean and to see what we could see.
"Thar she blows".......Newport calls itself the whale capitol or something like that. There are resident pods of whales there. We could see them in the water blowing water out of the blowholes, a little breaching and tails flipping out of the water. It was a misty day, so it was hard to see them clearly, but it was still exciting nonetheless.

One of the misty views from Newport.



After watching the whales for a few minutes, we decided to find a place for lunch. Although it is nice when hotels offer "continental breakfast", it really doesn't keep your enrgy up for long.
So when I saw the cafe pictured below, I pulled in. To look at it you wouldn't be enticed, BUT, it is good.




We both enjoyed our food and the quirkiness of the place and the other patrons. After lunch our destination was Yachats. There is a lighthouse there that I wanted to see. It's an historical site and the lighthouse has been refurbished at great cost. There is a fee to enter the park, but it is modest.
The setting here is gorgeous. It is also extremely windy. It was windy enough that it was hard to take a photograph because the wind would make you sway.





As you can see, the famous blue crate is still doing a great job. Although it had started complaining a bit. I think it was getting tired of all the salt air. It seemed more reluctant to get packed every day.



Ok, maybe this next bit is too much information, but it is kind of funny.
As we all know, our bladders have limited capacity. So, while at Yachats, I needed to go.......There are outhouses provided at the park, so I wandered over to use one. It seemed like it was taking my bladder far too long to empty. I'm thinking, "For crying out loud, is it ever going to finish?" After what seemed like an eternity, I finally realized the sensation I was feeling was actually the wind blowing air on me from below. I was laughing as I came out of the outhouse. Dr_bar had been next door and was wondering what all the laughing was about.
For some reason when you travel, as when you go hiking or camping, it just doesn't seem as important to be as fastidious as when you are at home. Those little bottles of Purell come in handy for times like these.

After leaving Yachats, we made our way through the Dunes, Florence, North Bend, Coos Bay....all in the rain.....all the way to Bandon.

Oh, yes, on the way, Dr_bar and I lost one another for awhile. Partly my fault.....well, maybe all my fault....

We were in Florence and had stopped at a Yamaha dealer to look for a part my bike needed. They did not have it, but the Yamaha dealer in Coos Bay did. We told them we would be there before closing so they put it on hold for me.

It started to rain shortly after leaving Florence. Dr_bar signalled that he was pulling over so I pulled over ahead of him. When he pulled in behind me, he told me he needed to find his rain cover for his tankbag. He suggested I keep riding and that he would catch up to me in Coos Bay at the motorcycle shop.
So, I carried on while he did whatever it was he had to do. I have been riding for quite awhile with dr_bar and have got to know how much of a fuss budget he his. So when I saw the sign for the Umpqua lighthouse, I figured I would have a few minutes extra to spare before dr_bar even got going again.
I detoured down the road to go see the lighthouse. I stopped long enough to read the sign, take a picture and get back to the highway.





I kept watching my mirror expecting to see him at any moment, but I never did. Then I saw a motocyclist ahead of me so I poured on the speed (as much as the rain and wet roads would allow) but it was not him.

All I could do was keep riding to the appointed bike store and hope to meet up with him there. When I finally made it over the North Bend bridge I was relieved to see the big yellow bike sitting parked in the lot.
Dr_bar had already been in and purchased the part as well as a throttle rocker for me. I lost mine back at the parking lot for the Sea Lion Caves.

We got back on the road and started making our way towards Bandon. It rained all the way to Bandon. By the time we got there is was quite stormy and we were starting to feel the cold. It can be quite draining to ride all day in the wind, cold and rain. We stopped in at one place but it was far too expensive. I kind of liked the look of one particular place, but dr_bar wanted to head to The Best Western to check it out. It felt like miles down the road. It was dark and windy and rainy and I would like to have just gone back to the one I saw, but he really, really wanted to go look at the Best Western. When we got there, he went inside to inquire about 2 non smoking rooms and cost.
They gave him a price, but it was quite high, and he told them he was going to go back into old town to theone I had wanted to go to. The clerk then decided since they weren't full they could do better on the price.
Dr_bar knew I wanted to go back into old town and it was then that he told me he was exhausted and that he just wanted to stay here. He said he couldn't ride any more today. So, I agreed to stay there.
When we went in to register, we got a suite with 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Dr_bar paid for it.....he said since he pressured me into staying here, he would pick up the room. I jokingly mentioned (well maybe not so joking because I had wanted to stop for a coffee, but dr_bar didn't), that I never did get my coffee. The clerk then told me there was fresh coffee available just around the corner from the desk and to go help myself. I was glad to wrap my hands around something hot, but it was awful coffee.
After a quick change we went next door to the restaurant and enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner. I paid for our dinner so it helped to even out the cost a little bit.
After dinner, we got changed into swimsuits and went to the pool and jacuzzi. The soak in the hot tub felt so-o-o-o gooooooooooddddddd after the hard ride that day.
The hotel is on a golf course, far away from the highway, so it was nice and quiet there. And with my earplugs in, I couldn't even hear dr_bar sawing logs in the next room.

DAY 5

In the morning after checking out and repacking out gear, we headed into old town Bandon.....I was determined to get my coffee..... ...good coffee....

We rode the back road to old town via the lighthouse. Although it was still a misty morning, the day showed promising signs of getting better.











Just behind the bikes is a great little coffee shop. After spending time at the beach and watching the waves and the lighthouse, I led the way into the town. As I came around the corner, my eyes zeroed in on the coffee shop. So I signalled...barely....and pulled in to the curb. Sorry, dr_bar, but this is as far as I go. We went inside and had some breakfast and coffee. Coffee good enough that I went for a second cup.

While we were inside the cafe, the sun came out. In fact, it got so hot I had to move from the table where we were sitting.

Today's travels should take us through Gold Beach, Bookings, The Redwoods, and into Eureka.

Roscowgo...I'm actually going to try to do a big trip next June. I have already signed for the time off where I work. I need to now pay for the trip I just did and then start saving for the next one.

You never know, we may just end up down there, although my main plan is to go across Canada.

I finally got dr_bar to load his pics onto a CD for me so Icould upload a few more pics from the trip.

In all my previous posts there are no pics of me to show I was actually there. My bike, yes, but me, no.

So, here are a few of dr_bar's.

Here is me at Bandon.



Just before we left Tillamook to get to Lincoln City. About 10 minutes after this was taken it got dark. We really had to keep our eyes scanning for any animals.


For some reason we got kind of silly when we were at the Yaquina Head Lighhouse park. Maybe it was the high winds and salt air.





Such a tourist.......






Of course being on the road isn't always so romantic....There are times when it is downright ugly out there. However, I would still do it again.
Can you tell it's flippin' freezing outside.



This is the park we happend on because of going on the wrong road. I was glad we went the wrong way first or we wouldn't have come across this little jewel.



Fun in the park.

I must have been looking for something. Or once again changing the batteries in my camera. Next time I will pack the recharger. I think this is at the Columbia River...between Washington and Oregon.

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

I just spent the last hour writing ore of the story and adding pictures and then the site timed out or something.

Sometimes this internet can be so frustrating. I will rewrite day 6 tomorrow.

This time the back button didn't work. I think there may be problems with the local internet provider here due to the current extreme bad weather.

I'll try again tomorrow.

DAY 6 to Eureka

The next stop after leaving Bandon was at Gold Beach where we met an interesting character named Little Fuzzy. I saw him whittling a stick with an axe so I went over to ask him what he was making. He was happy to talk….especially when he saw that we were on motorcycles. He came over to where our bikes were parked and started yakking with us. He said he always wanted to go to Canada, but every time he got close to the border he chickened out and turned back. He told me he had a criminal past and wasn’t sure if he could cross the border. He used to be a biker….we suspected it was with an outlaw biker gang judging by the tattoos and his handle. Dr_bar thought he might be an axe murderer because he had a couple of axes. I told him the guy was just enjoying carving his walking sticks out of myrtle wood here on the beach. He actually lives in the California side of the border but comes across into Oregon to spend time on the beach.

I asked him if I could take his picture and he seemed really pleased to be asked. He also told me his real name, but he said he likes to go by Little Fuzzy. He showed us his wrecked ankle and foot. It was quite deformed which made it to difficult to ride anymore. Dr_bar suspected he got it from some criminal activity and that no doctor had attended. I told him he was crazy and too suspicious.

Here is Little Fuzzy carving his stick with an axe.



Dr_bar and Little Fuzzy……notice the forced fake smile on dr_bar.



Soon it was time to get going. We still had some distance to go. Our new mantra was California or Bust!
We stopped in Bookings for a light lunch and gas for the bikes. This would be our last tax free purchase for a while.



Crossing into California was a big let down. For some reason I envisioned a big handsomely carved WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA sign on the border from Oregon to California. It was very underwhelming.
For a state that is so arrogant about itself, I expected better than a mediocre sign that is bent and stained and dirty. There is no pride evident in that sorry sign. Hmmmm, maybe I should write to the governor.



While we were at the sign to get our documentary picture, it started to rain a little bit. So we got back onto our bikes and got moving. We had been hoping it would have been just a little sprinkle, but, oh,no…..it became a heavy downpour with some high winds. And traveling at 75mph, the force is quite significant. When I saw an overpass ahead, I signaled early so dr_bar would have enough time to slow down and get off the highway too.
I never really gave much thought to overpasses before, but I am learning they can be a biker’s best friend. We moved away from the speeding traffic as far as we could so that we wouldn’t be so wind blown and sprayed. I dug out my waterproof booties to put on over my boots and lower legs. I also got out my scarf and waterproof gloves. Keeping dry sure does help with keeping warm.
Once we were properly attired for the elements, we got back onto the highway and headed towards The Redwood National park.

Here we are stopped at a so-called view point. We were actually wondering where the view was.


As you can see the weather was still misty but at least the heavy rain had stopped.
I will add more redwood writing later....and we will actually make it to Eureka.

Day 7, the Redwood Forest to Eureka California


We looked in the map to see exactly where the famous Redwood Forests were. The Redwood highway crisscrossed the freeway so we decided to go and ride in the forest for a while. Unfortunately the roads were wet and slippery from the rain so we had to ride cautiously.
This would be an awesome ride in dry weather. Ups and downs and winding turns aplenty. We had an opportunity to stop and admire some of the big trees occasionally.

Pics later.

It was a bit stressful to keep riding through the forests because of the road conditions so I eventually led us back onto the freeway so we could have a quicker ride. At the pace we were going, we would never make it to Eureka before dark. We rode a good pace for a while until the road wound its way around a mountain (I think that was around Orick)…and to a much needed rest stop. Some days it just doesn’t pay to have that extra cup of coffee, no matter how good it is.

“I would like to see an elk.”
“No, you wouldn’t”, said dr_bar.
“Yes, I would.”
“You don’t want to get anywhere near one of those things.” said dr_bar.
“I have been seeing so many signs that say “ELK”. I wish we could see some.”

Well, I didn’t have to wait long. Our ride took us away from the ocean for a while and into some more forested area. We came around a bend and out of the trees and “SCREEEEEEECCCCHHHH!!!!!!! I think I made the back tires spin out from stopping so fast. I barely had enough time to put the signals on for dr_bar to know what I was doing. He stopped some distance past me. There, by the die of the road were a half dozen young elk sparring with each other. There were several vehicles pulled over so the occupants could watch the elks for a few minutes.

Pics later.

As interesting as it was to see these beautiful creatures, we had to get moving. We got back on out bikes and headed down the highway to Eureka. As we neared Eureka we were running out of daylight. At one point though, I had to pull into a view point. The sun was setting and the colours it cast in the sky and water were too good to pass up.

While we were there taking our pictures, another car pulled in. The old man in the passenger seat saw our BC plates and just had to come over and talk. He zeroed in on dr_bar. This old fellow used to be a Canadian. He still has some relatives living near where we live here in the lower mainland. I talked to his companion who was driving the car. She told me that the old man had Alzheimer’s now and would probably not even remember stopping to chat, but for now it made him a very happy man to be able to talk about Canada and BC. Eventually his companion nudged him towards the car so that dr_bar and I could be on our way. As we rode out of the parking lot, the old man was still standing there watching us leave. I told dr_bar that he did a good thing today. He didn’t think so, but I told him that even though the old man won’t recall anything tomorrow; for today you gave him some happy memories. Sometimes we all should take just a few extra minutes from out busy lives to reach out and make someone feel good. It costs nothing but a few minutes.

As we approached Eureka I noticed that the air was very fragrant. I like it a lot. We rode into town in the dark which made it difficult to find a hotel, so we just picked one at random near the edge of town. Besides, we were tired and it was starting to rain a bit. We dragged our gear to our respective rooms and went in search of some supper. At the first place we walked to, nobody ever came to our table. We sat for several minutes waiting for a server, but nobody could be bothered. It was not a busy place so there was no excuse. I got up to look out the windows and saw a sign that said “Sizzler”. I asked dr_bar if he knew what a “Sizzler” was. He got quite enthusiastic about knowing there was a Sizzler nearby, so we left the place we were in and walked another block to go for supper. The place was warm, friendly, had a good variety and the food was decent. We walked back to the hotel where I pushed my bike under the stairs and put the cable and lock on it.
For an economy hotel it was acceptable, but unfortunately, the so-called non-smoking room still had an odour of smoking in it. For someone like me who is so sensitive to smoke, it means the next day I will probably have headache and not feel well again for a few hours. More on that later…….

In the morning, after we got our bikes geared up and checked out, I suggested to dr_bar that we go in to the Old Town of Eureka. I wanted to at least see what it looked like around here before leaving. We rode for a short time having no clue where we were, but at least we saw a little bit of the city. Suddenly there appeared before my eyes a most welcoming sight. A genuine coffee bar  that looked like a place where I might get some quality coffee. I immediately put my signal on and pulled over. Dr_bar pulled over and asked,”What’s up?”
I pointed to the sign. He turned around and saw what I was looking at.
“Do you mind if we stop here?” I asked. “I think it would be a good idea to have a coffee and something before we leave town.”
Dr_bar readily agreed.
Just as we were precision parking our bikes, a leather clad woman suddenly appeared out of what seemed to be nowhere. She had been in the coffee shop and saw us park our bikes so she came out to talk to us. She wanted to know where we were riding to that day. She also was riding, but I didn’t see any bike. She told me her bike was parked down the street some where in a parking lot. She then left presumably on her way to her acquaintances place for breakfast.
A few minutes later, she reappeared on her bike and parked it in line with ours. I did what any good tourist would do.
I snapped a picture.

She then took it upon herself to go and get a coffee and join us at our table. She certainly was not shy. She was in the hotel business and gave us a bit of information for when we got to San Francisco. Unfortunately the information sucked. More on that later.

After my second cup of coffee I decided I had had enough of listening to their prattle so I started to collect my gear to get ready to leave. I told dr_bar I was going outside to wait. I think he must have also been wanting to “make an escape” because he came outside right away. We went to fuel the gas tanks before leaving town and along the way I noticed again the fragrant air. I asked several people if they knew what kind of trees were growing there, but nobody knew.

The highway took us away from the ocean again and through some more forests. We saw several signs telling us about a giant redwood big enough to drive through. We saw the sign again at Legget, so we decided to exit there. We figured we would have a quick peek at the tree and then have some lunch. We followed the road to the turnoff and saw that we had to ride down a muddy gravel road to get to it. We decided to give it a try anyway. Once we were down the hill, we then saw a “toll booth”. The old geezer there wanted 3 dollars each just to go look at the tree. I politely declined and said we would just go back out via the u-turn route.
He then became very rude and gruff with me. I asked him what his problem was. He made some angry retort about people wanting something for nothing. We told him it wasn’t so much about wanting something for nothing, but people should have fair warning that there is an admission charge. There was nothing on the highway sign to indicate a fee. He told us some law existed that prevents them from putting a price up. We told they didn’t need to put a price…just an indication there is a fee. I then rode back out to the highway via the muddy gravelly u-turn route. I heard dr_bar give him what for before he rode away.
After that encounter, we decided to spend our lunch money somewhere else. We decided if that’s the kind of person in Legget, we wanted to go somewhere else. We looked on the map and decided on Laytonville.

I thought Laytonville was ok. We stopped in at a nice enough place for lunch where we once again shook our heads at the memory of that old geezer back in Legget. We looked at the map to see what would be the best route to get to San Francisco. We decided to use an inland route because it would be quicker than using the coastal route.
We had just got back on the road after lunch when dr_bar started yelling at me.
“Pull over!” He yelled.
I looked at him in surprise. “What’s wrong?”
He was obviously angry about something. He just yelled at me again. “Pull over!” “Pull over now!”
I pulled onto the gravel shoulder but I had no idea what he was so upset about. I thought that things were going ok so I couldn’t figure out what I had done to upset him so much.

“Whew!” It wasn’t me. That was a relief. Although that relief was short lived. Dr_bar had spotted some bolts on the steering column that were coming loose. He was angry because of the mechanics that had just done my very big and expensive service just before I left for this trip. Part of the 25,000km service includes the steering bearings. It looked like the mechanic had not tightened the Allen bolts properly. They were just about to fall out. Dr_bar tightened then as best he could, so we could keep riding. We said we could get to a bike shop the next day to have them properly torqued.

Almost as soon as we got back on the road, it started to rain. I do believe that in all my life I have never seen rain that hard and heavy. It rained so hard in a short time that the road was obscured. There was no place for shelter so we just kept riding. I rode on the shoulder because I had to go so slow. It was very difficult to see. I was thankful I had on all my gear. I was warm and dry inside, but I could barely see where I was going. Eventually we were joined by another rider. Unlike most motorcyclists who do everything in their power to scare the krap out of me when they pass me, this rider seemed content to fall in behind us. Of course he was……he had a guide…….As soon as it stopped raining, though; he did pass and ride away. He waved as he went by.

I think my next camera purchase should be a waterproof one so I can show those wild weather patterns.
The road took us through Ukiah, Santa Rosa and Novato. Along the way the terrain suddenly became almost tropical. The sun came out and presented us with a spectacular rainbow. Then I started seeing palm trees. Although we were nearing San Francisco, we were also getting tired. We weren’t sure how long it would take us to actually get into San Francisco with this rush our traffic, so we decided to fuel up the bikes before we go there. I took the exit for Novato. I had no idea of what was in Novato, but I was pleasantly surprised. We headed into town to look for a gas station and as I cam around a corner I saw a coffee shop. I found us a place to park so we could take a break here. This was a great little place called Dr. Insomnia. I had some very good tea and a snack. I wasn’t sure when or if we would get supper so I made sure I kept my energy up along the way.
We lingered there longer than planned because it had such a nice atmosphere. I even suggested staying in Novato for the night and saving getting into San Francisco for the morning. Dr_bar wasn’t interested so we just got our bikes fuelled and made our way for San Francisco. It’s about 30 minutes from Novato.

Next…..my first impression of the Golden Gate Bridge.